Four Israelis wounded in Qassam rocket attack from Palestinian
militants

Four Israelis were injured on Tuesday when a Qassam rocket hit their house in the western Negev town of Sderot, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

An IDF spokesperson told Xinhua that one of the victims, a 45- year-old woman, was seriously wounded and her 4-year-old son was also among the wounds.

No other details about the four injured were given.

Local daily Ha'aretz, meanwhile, quoted a spokeswoman for the Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon as saying that eight other individuals were treated for shock.

Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has claimed responsibility for the rocket barrage, in which nine rockets were fired at the western Negev on Tuesday evening, seven of which hit Sderot.

Abu Obaida, a spokesman for Ezz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, told the press that his brigades launched eight home-made rockets into southern Israel town of Sderot on Tuesday, promising more rockets attacks tonight.

He said the attacks came to mark the 59th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) in response to the "enemy" celebrations of what it calls "the anniversary of creating the State of Israel."

The attack from Gaza continues worrying the Israeli residents in the affected areas over the past two weeks as Palestinian groups launch frequent heavy rocket attacks in contrast to the relative calm since a ceasefire declared last November.

On Monday Palestinians launched three rockets from Gaza towards southern Israel and a fire broke outside a Negev kibbutz after one of the rockets hit a field.

Earlier this week the Israeli cabinet discussed the calls for a response to the incessant fire from Gaza, however the government decided to maintain the current policy of restraint for the time being.

The Israeli army is authorized to continue operating according to current procedures.